How will the world end

[daryn]

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I'm surprised to see nuclear war listed. I give a higher probability to biological/chemical war. The Russians have supposedly already bred an incurable smallpox, and the barriers to entry when it comes to creating that stuff are far lower than they are for making nuclear bombs, much less making them on any scale.

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wouldn't some tribe in some forest in south america or africa survive that kind of stuff?

[steggy]

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Global warming...this could cause a lot of natural distaters such as massive hurricanes. I don't think this is very close.

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Are you a climatologist or something? I like how sure you are.

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From Wikipedia:

"Storm strength leading to extreme weather is increasing, such as the power dissipation index of hurricane intensity[6]. Kerry Emmanuel in Nature writes that hurricane power dissipation is highly correlated with temperature, reflecting global warming. Hurricane modeling has produced similar results, finding that hurricanes, simulated under warmer, high-CO2 conditions, are more intense; there is less confidence in projections of a global decrease in numbers of hurricanes. Worldwide, the proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 or 5 – with wind speeds above 56 metres per second – has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s."

[egocidal]

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Not with a bang, but a whimper.

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Ghey

[Blarg]

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I'm surprised to see nuclear war listed. I give a higher probability to biological/chemical war. The Russians have supposedly already bred an incurable smallpox, and the barriers to entry when it comes to creating that stuff are far lower than they are for making nuclear bombs, much less making them on any scale.

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wouldn't some tribe in some forest in south america or africa survive that kind of stuff?

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Could be, but some people could possibly survive a massive nuclear attack too. Nuclear winter, I've read, isn't a certainty. Of the two, it seems to me more likely that biological warfare would be tried because so many people could try it, and on the cheap.

Now it's not easy to imagine everyone everywhere wiped out, but with air travel and such, you can spread a plague world-wide within hours. And there will probably be research done, sooner or later if it isn't already, to make killing this way ever easier. You have to make it not kill everyone right away, so it can spread further, and not die easily, so people coming near bodies and contaminated surfaces can still catch a bug/virus. Maybe they'll even find a way to weaponize prions, the extremely hard to destroy proteins said to be responsible for mad cow disease and some other diseases.

I'm not sure that whatever survivors might be left over from a nuclear or biological attack would be self-sustaining, either. So that's another reason a worldwide disaster may not have to kill everybody instantly. Maybe they would wipe themselves out, be in inhospitable lands that can't feed them, or not know how to get food out of those lands. Maybe unattended nuclear power plants will break down and irradiate them, or the breakdown of the world would destroy water supplies thousands of miles away in some odd protected nook of the world. I'm not sure if you got a bunch of people with plenty of guns but not enough food and water, they wouldn't just all slaughter each other immediately or die out fairly shortly.

[KotOD]

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Global warming...this could cause a lot of natural distaters such as massive hurricanes. I don't think this is very close.

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Are you a climatologist or something? I like how sure you are.

[/ QUOTE ]


From Wikipedia:

"Storm strength leading to extreme weather is increasing, such as the power dissipation index of hurricane intensity[6]. Kerry Emmanuel in Nature writes that hurricane power dissipation is highly correlated with temperature, reflecting global warming. Hurricane modeling has produced similar results, finding that hurricanes, simulated under warmer, high-CO2 conditions, are more intense; there is less confidence in projections of a global decrease in numbers of hurricanes. Worldwide, the proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 or 5 – with wind speeds above 56 metres per second – has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s."

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Wind Shear is increasing too

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Climate model simulations for the 21st century indicate a robust increase in wind shear in the tropical Atlantic due to global warming, which may inhibit hurricane development and intensification. Historically, increased wind shear has been associated with reduced hurricane activity and intensity.

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[J.A.K.]

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Not with a bang, but a whimper.

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Ghey

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Eliot Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: You sir, are a hollow man.

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Global warming...this could cause a lot of natural distaters such as massive hurricanes. I don't think this is very close.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you a climatologist or something? I like how sure you are.

[/ QUOTE ]


From Wikipedia:

"Storm strength leading to extreme weather is increasing, such as the power dissipation index of hurricane intensity[6]. Kerry Emmanuel in Nature writes that hurricane power dissipation is highly correlated with temperature, reflecting global warming. Hurricane modeling has produced similar results, finding that hurricanes, simulated under warmer, high-CO2 conditions, are more intense; there is less confidence in projections of a global decrease in numbers of hurricanes. Worldwide, the proportion of hurricanes reaching categories 4 or 5 – with wind speeds above 56 metres per second – has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s."

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there was an ice age documentary on a while ago about the 1500s. from 1520-1580 or so temperatures in central europe dropped by a some relatively huge #. there is evidence in soil samples, rocks, and tree rings.

during the next century, obviously temperatures rose by a similar #.

climatology is so ridiculously tough to see while it is going on.

now, that being said, i agree that just in case we ARE causing global warming, we should do everything humanly possible to prevent it's continuation (i.e. we shoudl recycle and i do. we should reduce emissions whenever possible and once ethanol is available by me i'll be buying it)

Barron

[g-bebe]

winged monkies

[orange]

[Lazy Meatball]

I can't believe everyone left out zombie/vampire apocalypse. Either that or When Cyberdyne becomes self aware.